Anne Beninghof

Recently, I received an invitation to attend a workshop called Engaging ALL Students through Differentiated Instruction by Anne Beninghof.  The name was not familiar to me, so I was reluctant to go.  I have attended many workshops in the past that promised to provide effective strategies for differentiation in the classroom, but they just didn't deliver.  I always left with few strategies that I could use easily without a lot of time and/or money spent.  (And I don't know about you, but I don't have much of either to waste!)  And I couldn't describe those few strategies today because I didn't have an effective system to store them for future use!  So today, I recommend two things: attend this workshop and get yourself organized!

Attend this workshop.  I finally agreed to go, and I was not disappointed.  By far, this workshop is one of my favorites!  I was thrilled that there were so many creative (and easy) strategies displayed throughout the room, and I became inspired before the presentation even started.  By lunchtime, I had already learned many wonderful ideas that I am excited to put to use in the classroom.  Best of all, I didn't even fall into that dreadful "2 o'clock slump";  I was too busy taking notes!

This picture is one of my favorites from the displays:

Glove Balloons:  Use this idea for any lesson with 5 points or factors.  Write one on each finger of a rubber glove.  Blow up the glove and toss it to a student.  The finger they catch will determine their response.  I was particularly excited about this idea for teaching writing (5 W's for narrative prompts, 5 steps of the writing process, 5 senses...)  You can also use this for vocabulary, geography, science, etc.

Another strategy:  Mark in the textbook without damaging the book?  Yep!  Use transparency sheets or report covers with Vis-a-Vis markers, Wikki Stix, or highlighter tape.  All of these are erasable, removable, and/or reusable! Students can "write" in their books to show facts from the text or to prove their answers to questions.  I'm definitely planning to try some of the other strategies I came away with, but I've got to get them organized first.

Get yourself organized.  I strongly suggest that you develop a system for organizing ideas from fellow teachers, workshops, the internet... I have a couple of different methods at this point, but since I am mostly a visual learner, I am finding that pictures are much better than simply taking notes. If I write something down, I may not completely understand it 3 months (or 3 days) later. I have learned that a camera is my best friend when it comes to remembering things... I have been using it a lot for everyday things (shopping, classroom reminders, etc.).  Since I didn't want to forget any of the ideas displayed during the workshop, I was thankful to have my cell phone so that I could capture these images and remember them.  Now all I need to do is upload them to a designated folder on my computer for easy access later.

I love organization, so I am constantly looking for new and different ways of organizing.  If you have any ideas or suggestions for me, please let me know.